Back 2 School - my awesome kids

Welp, I guess it's time to say goodbye to summer. Or at least to summer vacation.  The kids just started back to school this week, Zoey on Monday and Gavin on Tuesday. I'm going to brag on my kids in this post so if you don't want to hear it.... now would be a good time to dismiss yourself. :)


 Zoey is in third grade this year. Seriously?! Third grade? Already?! It seems like she was just taking her first steps and now she's in the middle of her elementary school career. I was pretty worried about Zoey on her first day of school.  We moved from one side of town to the other in October of last year but I kept her in the same school until she finished second grade. She hasn't had a lot of opportunities to meet kids her age out here so I was super worried about her. Zoey is a very special little spirit.  I know that all mom's think that their kids are the best. But I honestly feel like we won the lottery with Zoey.  Ever since she was a baby she was super mild mannered and a happy soul. She hardly ever cried as a baby and even now as an older girl she doesn't get involved with all the drama that most girls do.  I've never had Zoey come home crying because someone hurt her feelings or someone was mean to her.  She just shakes off the mean stuff and gets over it. (I still have trouble doing that and I'm....well....not 8 years old.) I honestly worried about her last year because I was afraid that she wasn't sure when people were being mean to her. I had a conversation with her teacher at parent teacher conferences about this concern and her teacher said that she was not worried at all. She said Zoey is a special kind of kid.  She knows how to pick good friends and is friends with everyone.  She has the ability to walk away from the popular group of girls when they're not making good choices. I think that's what every mom wants to hear! I'm so proud of miss Zoey.  I worried about her first day of school for nothing.  She came home with two new friends who "made a pact" to meet on the benches every morning.

3 year old little Zoey Bagoey

Little Miss Sassy Pants strutting her stuff on the first day of third grade!

 I found this brilliant idea on Pinterest to take a photo of your kids and write some stats down so you can look back and reflect on how much they've changed over the years. I wish I would have thought of that before this year so I could have begun with Zoey in Kindergarten but I guess now's as good of time as any to start! Look at how much she's grown in five years!


This year was a pretty big year for us. Gavin officially started school.  Talk about time flying! Gavin has been soooo excited for Kindergarten to start.  It's really not fair for the school's to have Kindergarten round up in April.... I've had to answer the "When do I get to go to school?" question at least twice a week for the last four months. Honestly, I wasn't as nervous for Gavy to start school as I was for Zoey.  I guess I figured that everyone in Gavin's class is in the same boat.  No one knows anyone yet.  Zoey, on the other hand, has to compete with kids that have gone to school with each other for three whole years! I did get pretty emotional dropping Gavin off though.  When we got to the school the first graders were out on the playground and it was still pretty early to drop him off.  He got to play on the playground for a few minutes before the bell rang for him to line up.  He immediately found a few little boys to play with and Jon commented (this was my first tear up moment) "He's already made some new friends!" When the bell rang he got in line, grabbed his bag, and was off to follow his teacher. I was kind of in shock! I needed a hug! I needed a kiss! I needed some closure here!! I snuck in a quick hug and he was off.... just like that. No tears, no holding back... he was a pro (second tear up moment)! This next part made my mom laugh so hard.... I don't get it. So, Jon and I needed to pay Gavin's school fees and we walked around the front of the school to the office.  The office is just a few feet down the hallway from Gavin's classroom so while Jon was waiting in line I wandered down the hallway to have a little peak.  I popped my head in the open door to see if Gav was melting down or if he was fine..... there he was.... sitting like a little gentleman singing his little heart out while Mr. Green played the guitar. I just wanted to peak... Gav didn't see me but when I told him after school that I snuck a peak he exclaimed "YOU SNEAKER!"

Gavin at about 6 months with his beautiful blue eyes!

He sure does make me laugh. Of course when I got out to the car I had a total melt down.  My little buddy is growing up so fast! I can't stand it! Gavin is a total goof ball. He's always making us laugh with his silly voices and songs.  He can do a perfect Roger from Open Season 2. Youtube it when you have a chance... it's hilarious!Gavin LOVES music. I like to brag that he can sing along with pretty much anything that I listen to in the car.  Here are a few artists from his collection of songs he knows: Tho Who, Neil Diamond, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Gaelic Storm, Katy Perry, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, FUN., and many many others.  I'm pretty proud of his music knowledge! He so gets that from me :) No surprise that on his first day of school he told me his favorite part was Music class. AWESOME!

All ready to go on the first day of Kindergarten.

Baby Tanner around 5 or 6 months old. This was his first "real food" feeding ever :)

So Tanner is still my little guy at home and I'm kind of excited to spend a little more one on one time with him.  Zoey and I got super close before Gavy was born, and then when she went to school it kind of gave me some one on one time with Gavy, and now that Gav is headed off to school I really look forward to having some alone time with my little guy.  He's so different from my other two kids.  The older two have been so laid back and pretty easy on us as parents... but then Tanner Royce comes along and turns our whole world upside down.  He's so funny and smart but he is sure stubborn and loud to boot! He likes things just the way he wants 'em and if he can't get it he will holler until he does. But as much as Tanner loves to yell and boss others around, he loves just as much to cuddle and give loves.  He's a super sweet boy and definitely my shy kid of the three. He LOVES music too! If he's in a bad mood all I have to do is crank up the tunes and he'll start dancing and the crankies are all gone. He's really good about memorizing songs too. It's pretty funny to hear him sing along with the radio. He's pretty tall for his age and I catch myself thinking that he should be farther along (developmentally) for his age.  I have to remind myself that he's only 2 1/2 and he already talks so well.  Some of my favorite things he says are: "Mammer" - instead of calling my mom Grandma he reffered to her as 'Mammer' for the longest time. I loved it! He also loves to have his window down in the car and will almost always ask Jon "Daddy? My dow down, peese?" His biggest thing right now is when you ask him to do something or stop doing something he'll say "No, I not". This most of the time winds up with him in time out for sassing but it's still cute! We also really have to watch what we say. He repeats EVERYTHING.. and I mean EVERYTHING!

Tanner B at 2 1/2 years

I had a lot of fun putting these together. I can't wait to look back when they're ready to graduate high school and seeing how much they've grown. On second thought, yes I can wait. I will wait ever so patiently and enjoy every minute I get to spend with them. And when the day comes when they're ready to graduate and move on.... I'll have these to look back on and cry over ;)

Odie Von Scnitzle vs The Peeping Tom

Today while making my boys lunch I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. (Remember we don't have blinds or curtains on our sliding glass door?) At first I thought maybe it was a kitten from one of our neighbor's zillion cats that roam through our backyard every day. But then I realizes it wasn't a kitten.... it was a squirrel! Peaking through the back window with his little paws( I dunno what you call em) up against the window.

Okay.... I freaking HATE rodents. Any kind. I don't care if it's a "cute" (rabid) chipmunk or an "adorable" (rabid) squirrel or just a "little" (rabid) mouse... they freak me out! Gavin was playing in the living room so I told him to hurry and come look. (Because we were safely behind the glass door) We walked slowly and quietly up to the back door because I was certain as soon as he caught a glimpse of us he would take off running. But the thing just sat there and stared at us.

THAT'S when Odie Von Schnitzel, our wonder dog, noticed the intruder and all heck broke loose! Odie LOST it! Now one would think that Odie would have scared the squirrel away with his ferocious bark and terrifying growling.... but that dang squirrel just held it's ground like "What chu gonna do, dog?!" - Yes, this squirrel also has a terrifying Brooklyn accent. Seriously, though! This squirrel stared down my dog. After about a minute of Odie barking his head off at the stupid squirrel, it finally decided it had enough and took off down the right side of our house.  I decided to open the door and let Odie have a little fun. I didn't want that stupid thing coming back. Can you imagine what would happen if one of the kids let it run inside my house?! Or worse, what if Gavin or Tanner tried to pet the "adorable" (rabid) squirrel?! It gives me the creeps just thinking about it. Odie ran after it but wasn't able to catch up to him. Hopefully that thing won't come sniffing around our door again.

This picture actually makes it look like Odie was just staring... but I promise...there was a LOT of growling and barking going on!

Anyway, I called to tell my husband about the whole thing because he's in Denver today and anytime either one of us said the word Squirrel we said it like this little girl.
WARNING!!! THIS VIDEO IS DISTURBING... there are SO many things wrong with this video that I can hardly stand to watch it. For instance the way the little girl moves the squirrel's little head around or how about the way the parent's act like it's not really that big of a deal? GROSS!

Chik-fil-a Bla Bla Bla

I'm sure you were all just dying to know my standpoint on this whole Chik-Fil-A debacle. I knew it!


I don't typically read the newspaper and we choose not to have cable in our home so I don't watch the news most of the time.  If I see something on MSN or Facebook that catches my eye I will do a little looking online but most of the time my current events don't involve my family. It's pretty hard to ignore this whole Chik-Fil-A thing right now. I mean, it's all over facebook. Both sides have blasted their news articles, pictures, and status updates pointing fingers and calling names. When this started happening I had no clue what the controversy  was. I gathered that the CEO of Chik-Fil-A said that he doesn't support homosexual-marriage and that the gay community was outraged and boycotting Chik-Fil-A. Wanting a little more info than that before I formed an opinion I took to the web to find out EXACTLY what was said and why it was such a big deal.

This is what I read.

I love Snopes.com because I feel like it will tell the whole story without offering a biased opinion on the matter. Based on what I read and what I've been seeing on Facebook posts, this is my opinion:

1. Chick-Fil-A is a known Christian organization. I mean anyone that walks through their doors, or doesn't walk through their doors on Sunday, can't help but to notice the Christian music playing over the speakers. You can't tell me that you were surprised at all to find out how a Christian company feels on the issue of same-sex marriage. It'd be like going to a Catholic Hospital and asking them how they feel about abortion. Christian's are pretty black and white when it comes to same-sex marriage.

2. As a company, I think it's best to keep your political agenda private.  If you want to donate to political campaigns that's something I feel you need to do as an individual and not a business. Chick-Fil-A donating money and backing anti-homosexual legislation is what opened this door in the first place. That's one of the mistakes I feel Chick-Fil-A made in this whole ordeal. Just my opinion.

3. The CEO of Chick-Fil-A was asked in a biblical interview his standpoint on same-sex marriage and gave his biblical answer. Again, what did we expect him to say?? And... he is entitled to have an opinion on the matter. He never stated that Homosexuals wouldn't be welcome in his restaurant, that they were dumb/stupid/disgusting (just making a point, this is NOT how I feel). He simply stated his stance on same-sex marriage. If we really wanted to blow up the controversy why don't we make a big deal about his stance on being divorced?! I mean, he says that they as a company are "first marriage" people.

4. If people have a problem with Chick-Fil-A as a Christian company with a Christian standpoint on same-sex marriage, it's their business if they want to boycott that company. That's their right! Just like it's your right as a Christian to eat at businesses who support your beliefs and values, they have a right to do the same thing.

My final point is one that comes from my beliefs and values as a member of the LDS church. Our Savior was the only perfect soul to walk this Earth. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, fed the hungry and the poor, and befriended the outcasts. How are we, as Christians, setting an example of Christ's love by flaunting our opinions and responding to conflict with more conflict? Blessed are the peacemakers... remember? I've been really disappointed in some of my friends and the choices that they've made to make such hurtful and hateful comments on their facebook pages.  The hypocrisy that's being demonstrated on both sides of the fence saddens me. We all want to be heard and given equal rights and treatment, yet we are not willing to listen and treat others fairly. Recently, in Relief Society, we were speaking about how to share the Gospel effectively. One of the comments that was made was that we should lead by example and always act with love. Where's the love in all of this mess?! We're all in this together.

Okay.  So, that's where I stand on this issue. I hope that I did not offend either side. My point of view is one that comes from love. I hope you can see that in this post. If not, I do apologize. If you feel the need to comment on this post, please know that any comments that are hurtful or hateful will be deleted. I won't stand for hate!

PEACE AND LOVE
-Kim